ESU faculty union negotiators OK contract

A negotiations committee for the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties unanimously approved a tentative contract agreement with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Monday evening.

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By CHRISTINA TATU

poconorecord.com

By CHRISTINA TATU

Posted Feb. 5, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By CHRISTINA TATU

Posted Feb. 5, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

A negotiations committee for the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties unanimously approved a tentative contract agreement with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Monday evening.

The contract will include a $5 increase in the fee union members must pay to see a specialist, increasing that co-pay to $25, Mash said.

The $15 co-pay they pay to see a primary care doctor will remain the same.

It also includes some concessions to the state system's distance education policies, which had previously been a sticking point for the two sides, said Ken Mash, vice president of the state faculty union and a professor at East Stroudsburg University.

Under the previous contract, professors teaching distance education classes received compensation for developing the course, as well as an additional $25 per student stipend.

Professors will still receive the $25 per student compensation, but will no longer receive compensation for developing distance education classes.

"We gave that up with the promise that there would be professionals on campus who would help the professors design the courses," Mash said.

Union faculty have been working without a contract for about 18 months, so the proposed four-year contract is retroactive.

It will expire in June 2015.

There is no salary increase in the first year, with a 1 percent increase in the second and third years of the contract, and a 2 percent increase in the fourth year.

The first increase was supposed to have gone into effect this past fall semester, Mash said.

When the contract is finally ratified, the faculty will receive the 1 percent increase and any back pay in one lump sum, he said.

The full details of the contract will not be released until it is finally ratified.

APSCUF's negotiations committee is made up of the faculty union presidents for each of the 14 state-owned universities.

They unanimously approved the tentative agreement during a 5 p.m. teleconference.

The union's legislative assembly is scheduled to meet this weekend. Once they approve the contract, it will go before the entire union for a vote, Mash said.

If it is approved, the contract will then be voted on by PASSHE's Board of Governors.

"Our goal was to try to have a contract that was fair to the students, fair to the faculty and to live within the financial demands of the time — and I think through compromising, we accomplished that," Mash said.